Once upon a time, there were two brothers by the name of Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. Some of the tales they collected and edited have lived happily ever after, being translated into many languages, adapted to other media, and quoted or alluded to in many contexts. Others are known today only in the German-speaking countries or not at all. In this course we will examine these and many other German fairy tales from a number of perspectives-literary, cultural, psychological, sociological. Through close readings of the texts and study of some of the scholarship on fairy tales, we will look for answers to questions such as, How grim are the Grimms' tales? What is the relationship between fairy tales and myths? What fairy-tale motifs or plots occur in other (folk) literatures? What function do fairy tales fulfill for children and adults? |